Spain On Stage: Dance and the Imagination of National Identity

Introduction

This project aims to propose new narratives of Spanish dance history by analyzing the components, processes, and contexts involved in the configuration of the dancing body through its negotiations with national identity at the turn of the 20th century.

Historical Context

It will recuperate, study, and reconstruct a corpus of choreographies and dances conserved in footage and film fragments between 1894 and 1936, the period between the crisis of the colonial system and the military coup that caused the Civil War and the following four decades of dictatorship.

Theoretical Framework

The study will articulate new theoretical tools to rethink the place of Spanish dance between the colonizing and the colonized, understanding the body as a living archive through intersectional and transcultural perspectives.

Methodology

A research team from CSIC will apply a ground-breaking interdisciplinary methodology based on three main areas:

1. Archive-based research
2. Practice-in-research and movement analysis
3. Dance motion capture and 3D animation

Outcomes

Thus, it will provide a theoretical and practical understanding of the evolution of the languages, codes, and gestures in order to integrate that reading into a revised history of Spanish dance.

Results and Impact

The versatile results will include:

• An open-access dance motion capture database
• The basis for a Virtual Spanish Dance Museum through an immersive Virtual Reality platform

These resources will serve future research projects, dance companies, educational institutions, and the general public.

Preservation of Heritage

Finally, the results will contribute to enjoying these recovered treasures of European intangible heritage and preserving them for the knowledge of future generations.